Cristina Yang
“Have some fire. Be unstoppable. Be a force of nature. Be better than anyone here, and don't give a damn what anyone thinks. There are no teams here, no buddies. You're on your own. Be on your own.” - Cristina Yang (S4E15) Cristina Yang is a researcher, Chief Medical Officer, and Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Klausman Institute for Medical Research. She has been taught at Seattle Grace Hospital, Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital, and Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. She was engaged to Preston Burke. She married Owen but that ended when she moved to Switzerland. History Early Life and Education Cristina is of Korean descent raised in Judaism and born and raised in Beverly Hills, California. Though Jewish, she has stated that she is not religious. Her mother married Cristina's stepfather, Dr. Saul Rubenstein, when Cristina was three. Cristina's father died when she was nine years old in a car accident. Cristina is a graduate of Smith College. She earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and she earned her M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine, where she graduated first of her class Yang's Pregnancy with Burke She scheduled an abortion, however, during a surgery with Dr. Burke she showed signs of pain and discomfort and collapsed in the OR and Addison operated on her. Burke didn't know that Cristina was pregnant. Her Fallopian tubes had burst and she was bleeding out into the uterus. They couldn't save the baby. Cristina didn't seem so attached to the pregnancy and tried to convince everyone that she was fine but at the end of the day she finally broke down and she cried hysterically. When Burke came to visit her, they comforted each other. Moving to Minnesota After the plane crash, Cristina relocated to Minnesota and started working at the Mayo Clinic. Cristina had some difficulties fitting in. She had to "babysit" Dr. Thomas, a very old surgeon with boring stories.Cristina asked Dr. Parker to steer Dr. Thomas into someone else's direction, even though she insisted she was a team player. Dr. Parker told her to take a couple of days off to calm down. Cristina sat down on a bench outside the hospital, where Thomas joined her.. They started talking about how everything, like cigarettes, seems to kill you these days, which started off their friendship. She started a sexual relationship with Dr. Parker. She became regular friends with ancient guy, telling Meredith he was her bestie, the Minnesota version of Meredith. Parker was trying to get Dr. Thomas to retire. Parker started butting into Dr. Thomas cases. Parker put Thomas on probation as he refused to step down gracefully and he asked Cristina to talk to Thomas. Personality Cristina is very confident, strong, and always speaks her mind. Cristina is driven, hyper-intelligent, and ambitious. She knows that she’s got the ability to become the best doctor at Seattle Grace, and she’s not afraid to show off her talents. She is very competitive and she will not stop until she gets what she wants. She is willing to give up anything to become a Cardio God. She was willing to give Owen to Teddy so that Teddy would stay and train her.